A variety of EAS systems are well known for the prevention or deterrence of unauthorized removal of articles from a controlled area. In a typical EAS system, tags designed to interact with an electromagnetic field located at the exits of the controlled area are attached to articles to be protected. If a tag is brought into the electromagnetic field or “interrogation zone”, the presence of the tag is detected and appropriate action may be taken. For a controlled area such as a retail store, the appropriate action taken for detection of an EAS tag may be the generation of an alarm. Some types of EAS tags remain attached to the articles to be protected, but are deactivated prior to authorized removal from the controlled area by a deactivation device that changes a characteristic of the tag so that the tag will no longer be detectable in the interrogation zone.
EAS tag deactivation devices may be fixed at a specific location, such as adjacent a point-of-sale (POS) station in a retail environment. A barcode scanner may also be located at the POS station for scanning a barcode affixed to an article. Barcode systems and scanners are well known. Barcodes may be used for a variety of purposes, such as inventory control and for managing POS transactions. In a typical POS transaction, upon purchase of an article, the barcode is scanned at a POS station. The barcode represents a reference number that is communicated to a computer to look up an associated record containing descriptive data such as product name, vendor name, price, quantity-on-hand, etc. The computer does a “price lookup” and displays the price on the cash register. The computer may also subtract the quantity purchased from the quantity-on-hand and perform other informational or management functions related to the purchased products.
Combined systems incorporating both an EAS system and a barcode scanner have been developed to increase the efficiency of scanning barcodes and modifying the activation state of an EAS tag. Such systems have been provided in both fixed and handheld configurations. In these systems, an article may be placed adjacent the combined EAS/Scanner to perform both the barcode scanning function and modification of the activation state, e.g. deactivation, of an EAS tag.
Unfortunately, however, it is possible with such systems to orient an item at a sufficient distance from the combined EAS/Scanner to achieve a valid barcode scan, but at an insufficient distance to reliably modify the activation state of the EAS tag. If an EAS tag is inadvertently not deactivated at the deactivator adjacent the POS station, the EAS tag will set off an alarm at the store exit. To then deactivate the EAS tag, the article must be returned to the EAS/Scanner, which causes customer confusion and embarrassment.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for optimizing the range of an EAS system to ensure reliable EAS tag modification.